UT Welcomes Fans to Final Home Football Game Saturday

KNOXVILLE — The University of Tennessee, Knoxville, welcomes football fans to campus this Saturday for the year’s last home football game.

Kickoff for the Volunteers’ game against the Vanderbilt University Commodores is scheduled for 7 p.m. ET. Neyland Stadium gates will open at 5 p.m. The game will be televised on ESPNU.

The traditional Vol Walk will begin at 5:20 p.m. at the Torchbearer statue on Volunteer Boulevard, then proceed down Peyton Manning Pass, then left onto Phillip Fulmer Way.

The Pride of the Southland Marching Band will leave the music building at 5:25 p.m. and will proceed along Volunteer Boulevard to Andy Holt Avenue and then on to the stadium.

Due to the Vol Walk and the band march, Volunteer Boulevard from east Andy Holt Avenue to Lake Loudoun Boulevard will be closed to vehicular traffic from 5:20 p.m. to 5:40 p.m. Also, Phillip Fulmer Way from east Andy Holt Avenue to Peyton Manning Pass will be closed from 5:20 p.m. to 5:45 p.m. Parking permit holders in Staff Lot 9 and other parking lots in this area should arrive two hours prior to kickoff in order to avoid vehicle and pedestrian congestion.

The Volunteer Village exhibition area will be open on the Humanities Plaza lawn from 3:30 p.m. to 6:30 p.m.

Fans also can attend the College of Arts and Sciences’ Pregame Faculty Showcase, which is celebrating its 20th anniversary this year. Held two hours before each home game kickoff in the University Center Ballroom, the showcase is a free 30-minute presentation by a UT faculty member, followed by a 15-minute question-and-answer session. This week, Michael Lofaro, professor of English, will discuss “James Agee at 100: A Centennial Celebration,” a month long celebration that has included lectures, concerts and a museum exhibit.

Only fans with permits can park on campus. UT encourages fans to use shuttle buses from the Knoxville Civic Coliseum, the Old City area of downtown Knoxville, and Farragut High School. Limited public handicapped parking spaces and handicapped shuttle service to the stadium are available on the UT Agriculture Campus, off Neyland Drive.

Many area hotels also offer shuttle service to the game. Check with your hotel’s management for details.

Tennessee Department of Transportation overhead signs and radio broadcasts will advise motorists which interstate exits to take to arrive on campus. The signs also will advise through-traffic on Interstates 40 and 75 to take the I-640 bypass around downtown Knoxville.

UT reminds visitors that all items, including purses, are subject to search at the stadium gates. Certain items remain prohibited inside the stadium, and those items cannot be stored at any stadium gate.

Prohibited items include the following:

alcoholic beverages, cans, bottles or coolers

radios without headphones

open umbrellas

video cameras

stadium seats with arms

large bags or parcels, including backpacks and large purses

weapons of any kind, including pocketknives

Fans are allowed to bring the following items inside the stadium:

cushions and seats without arms

diaper bags that accompany infants

small cameras, pagers, cell phones and binoculars

In an effort to reduce wait times, the university is offering express entry lanes at Gates 10 and 21. Those fans with no items subject to search may utilize the express lanes for quicker access to the stadium.

Under state law, no smoking will be allowed anywhere inside the gates of Neyland Stadium. Those fans violating the no-smoking regulation may be escorted out of the stadium. No one inside the gates will be allowed to leave and then be readmitted.

A no-fly zone extends over the stadium from one hour before the game until one hour after it ends, prohibiting flights within a 3-nautical-mile radius and lower than 3,000-feet altitude, except as authorized by air traffic control.

Solicitation near stadium gates and along Phillip Fulmer Way is prohibited.

For those driving on campus, Peyton Manning Pass, Middle and Lower Drives, Estabrook Drive and Phillip Fulmer Way from Middle Drive to Tee Martin Drive will be closed 30 minutes before kickoff. Directional parking will be used in Area 9 and Lots 4, 5A and 5B.